In order to break into large-scale volume in the U.S. market, electric vehicles will need to seize a totally different sales-cycle approach.
As context, American consumers have been programmed — dare I say brainwashed — by Apple and Microsoft to trade up their cellphones and laptops every few years. Because of a mentality that fears constant obsolescence, EV consumers assume that their beloved product will similarly become outdated.
So, how do the manufacturers keep high residuals on the EV to keep short-term lease payments low?
This conundrum is a growing struggle, with high-residual losses at auction. Unsurprisingly, these losses could become massive on large-scale volume, with new EV customers avoiding such risk on a long-term finance or retail purchase.
And, how do the manufacturers increase the profit margin for selling the EV in today's market, especially where dealers are seeing margin compression when selling new cars?
Frankly, service and parts profits will be unable to cover the gaps.